This invention relates to scaffold end caps.
Scaffold tubes are straight elongate metallic tubes which can be connected together to form structures known as scaffold. Scaffold is often constructed, for example, up the face of a building to provide platforms from which work on the face of the building can be carried out without the use of ropes and harnesses and the like.
It has been found that scaffold tubes, because they are formed from hollow open ended tubes, can become resting places for debris both whilst they form part of scaffold and whilst they are in a deconstructed state. Such debris can include welding rods, screwdrivers, dust, liquid and the like. The fact that debris can fall from the scaffold tubes, especially when tubes are manipulated at height when constructing or deconstructing scaffold, poses a potential safety risk. It is an object of the present invention to provide means whereby debris can be prevented from entering open-ended tubes, including scaffold tubes.
It is known to provide for scaffold tubes which appear at around pedestrian level on a pavement or the like a bung, which is usually made to be blue in colour. Such bungs are typically bulbous in shape and have a diameter which is noticeably greater than the outside diameter of the scaffold tube. Their prime purpose is to make the scaffold poles visible so that pedestrians are less likely to walk into them. To achieve their purpose, these bungs tend to be both easily attachable and easily removable.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaffold end cap, for blocking the end of a scaffold tube, the end cap comprising:
a tubular portion having at a first end an external dimension comparable to an internal dimension of the scaffold tube; and
a blocking member extending transversely across the tubular portion, the end cap being capable of insertion completely into the scaffold tube.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scaffold end cap, for blocking the end of a scaffold tube having an outer diameter and an inner diameter, the end cap comprising:
a tubular portion having an outer diameter similar to the inner diameter of the scaffold tube and having first and second ends;
a flange connected at the first end of the tubular portion; the flange being an outwardly projecting flange having an outer diameter generally the same as the outer diameter of the scaffold tube; and
a blocking member connected across the tubular portion.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.